Pyrogallol Stains, Am I Doomed?

Hi All,

I was working in the darkroom the other day and had finished processing some film with a pyro formula. I try to keep a clean area and always wash my hands of any chemical residue. Unfortunately, it seems I wasn't meticulous enough for the next day I discovered that I missed a spot on my upper arm and had stains there. It must have been splashed there during a rinse.

Normally, I immediately wash off all chemistry that contacts the skin. I cleaned it off but I was wondering about the toxicity of the overnight contact. Will the arm fall off? Will I turn into a flesh eating zombie? Well, kidding aside, I'm not sure if there is enough to worry about and I'll just remember to be more diligent next time.

Any thoughts?

"The secret to life is to keep your mind full and your bowels empty. Unfortunately, the converse is true for most people."

An occasional minimal contact like that is relatively harmless. If you were souping your film with your hands in it all day, no gloves, you'd have cause for concern. I believe it has been posted here before, and I know it's out there on the internet, but one way to tell if you're getting way too much exposure in a single sitting is if you start getting a metallic taste in your mouth even though you haven't been directly ingesting the stuff. Even before that, you'll get tingling sensations in the limbs that are in contact with it. Pyro has a degree of toxicity; it isn't cyanide, 5 molar sulphuric acid, Nicotine or VX (yes, nicotine is a very potent poison. 60 milligrams is a lethal dose!).

Hmmm, so FC you are saying that I should wear gloves when tray-processing my negs in Pyrocat-HD? Now, why didn't that occur to me?! I never wear gloves while souping my negs, can't seem to work with those darn things on.

Hmmm, so FC you are saying that I should wear gloves when tray-processing my negs in Pyrocat-HD? Now, why didn't that occur to me?! I never wear gloves while souping my negs, can't seem to work with those darn things on.

I use Nitrile SafeSkins with textured fingertip surfaces. No problems handling my wet 8x10 sheet film with them.

If you spill pyro on whitegoods it seems to be indelible. I was careless about 2 years ago and found a long brown streak down the front of my washing machine the morning after a darkroom session. Nothing I have tried can remove that stain!

Occasional small scale contact as you had is considered harmless. Those who don't use gloves with pyrogallol are asking for liver damage and dimishing eyesight, among other known effects. The toxicity in solution, and especially in dillution, is minor, but repeated long term dermal absorbtion that is easily avoidable is simply stupid.